


Distractions

by thesarcasticone



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Post Civil War, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 13:11:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4707173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesarcasticone/pseuds/thesarcasticone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been an exhaustive month. After all the fighting and disagreements, after finding out about even more enhanced and vigilantes - after Bruce's return to the Avengers' facility... Natasha is overworking herself after the events of Civil War, Bruce notices and tries to make her forget, if only for a couple of hours.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distractions

**Author's Note:**

> Don't own anything, except any mistakes I made and the Avengers notebook I bought because I am a very mature med student.

"Come on!"

It wasn't a usual thing, when someone managed to startle Natasha awake. Clint had tried to do so for many years and had only thus succeeded a handful of times, and only after knowing the woman for so long. So Bruce hadn't really thought he would be successful in waking her up.

But Natasha startled, her head jerking awake, hair and makeup all over the place.

"Bruce?" She asked, blinking a few times, cursing her inability to fully regain her consciousness as quickly as she was used to.

"Hey, there's something I need you to see." He voiced, calm and steady, with kind but distracted eyes.

Natasha's head hurt, and she made it known to him by taking a hand to it, gently massaging her forehead as she stood up from the chair where she had fallen asleep -right in the middle of the day. Natasha sighed as she stood, her eyes trying to hide her exhaustion, even if she knew the act to probably be fruitless.

"Is this something going to make me feel like squishing spiders afterward?" She questioned, her voice half amused and half bitter as she thought about the nuisance one of the newest heroes had turned out to be.

"No," Bruce chuckled, stuffing his hands inside his lab-coat's pockets. "Not unless they're animated."

His answer made her give out a puzzled face, one which she regretted the instant it made Bruce chuckle. She was in a position she rarely found herself in, distracted and unfocused.

It had been an exhaustive month. After all the fighting and disagreements, after finding out about even more enhanced and vigilantes - after Bruce's return to the Avengers' facility; Natasha had ended up overwhelmed. But she had not let it bother her, had straighten her spine and had gone back straight to work, training and leading the heroes which had decided to stay.

She had never felt burned out in her life, had always maintained excellent physical form, and just about right mental health. But the days had suddenly started blurring together, her muscles straining far more often, and more than once in a week, Bruce would often have to wake her in the mornings.

All these things, Bruce knew. He watched and observed her from their room and from his lab, how she held herself together for everyone's benefit and convenience, even his. She was slowly exhausting herself to fatigue and he had grown tired of simply standing idle watch. So he had woken that morning with a plan.

"Animated?" She questioned aloud, her brain kicking in and going through the different scenarios the word 'animated' could make sense in. The answer hit her as soon as they entered the elevator.

"Wait, did Clint put you up to this?"

"I don't know what you mean." He defended, but his face betrayed him, his mouth twitching near its corners.

He was a dork, but she adored him for it.

They arrived at the second floor and just as she suspected, he moved out and headed towards their living quarters. It was the building inside the facility where all the recruits slept, lounged and recharged for whatever mission came next.

"I thought you said I wouldn't be exposed to any spiders." She grunted behind him, her tone teasing and tired.

"You won't, I promise. Parker's out for the day."

Natasha grinned at that, not once taking her eyes off his back as she did. As much potential their youngest recruit had, as good and noble as he was, he still was a pain in Natasha's ass most of the time. She respected Parker's work in the field, it was his attitude in the training room she found -difficult. And of course Bruce knew it, and of course he would make sure the teen was absent on that day.

"Really?"

"Nah, I killed him last night. The Big Guy buried his body outside."

Natasha stopped and widen her eyes in surprise, not at his words, but at his teasing tone. It wasn't that often (though it was becoming a recurring occurrence) when he could joke about the Big Guy with such ease. But as he turned around to her, his eyes questioning her silence, his lips quirked in an attempt at hiding an obvious smirk, she realized this was one of those times.

She smiled back.

"I knew I liked him for a reason." She threw at him, glad in having her humor and wit back. She made him chuckle and she considered their talk a success in more ways than one.

"Feeling's mutual." Was all he answered, his back to her as he pushed open the door to what Natasha knew to be the TV room.

"Bruce," she tried.

But he didn't answer, he didn't turn, he simply moved in order to let Natasha enter the room. She did, passing next to him with knowing eyes and a half amused, half threatening smile; a smile which Bruce was certain could only be mastered by Natasha.

The room appeared to be empty (With Scott wandering around the place no one was ever completely sure), the large flat screen was turned on and a video game console already up and running. It was an older model, with a racing game already installed and ready to be played with.

"Seriously, Bruce?" She asked, turning to him, an eyebrow raised.

"Four times in a row weren't enough for you, you need a repeat?" She teased as she moved towards the couch, grabbing a controller and taking her usual seat on the left side of the love chair.

"No, I need revenge. You owe me that much." He answered her, his eyes playful and alive, with competitiveness and stubbornness in them.

"I owe you a lot of things, doc." She told him as he took a seat next to her, not caring that they had the entire room to themselves. "But this isn't one of them."

Bruce chuckled as he chose an avatar to use. "We'll see."

Natasha rolled her eyes and followed his lead, choosing the avatar and car of her liking.

It wasn't game night, or date night or any kind of special evening, but both Avengers sat and played as if they had no other responsibilities for the day. It was a common practice, tourneys among those who lived at the Facility, but they usually were schedule and organized by either Parker or Barton, not improvised by Bruce on a work day.

But it was the easiest solution he found to his problem, something fast and that didn’t involve much planning, just a couple of phone calls to ensure no one would bother Natasha, unless it was of utter importance.

"No, no! That's not fair! That can't be fair!"

"Careful there dear, I think you're starting to sound like a kid, or worst, like Barton."

She threw him a glare at that, filled with anger and annoyance, and quickly returned her face to the screen, where she was currently losing the race. Bruce was in first while she tried to regain the third.

"Bruce?"

"Uh, yes?" He questioned his attention completely on the screen, before adding a soft but enthusiastic, "yes!"

"Don't call me dear." She said, a smugness to her voice which made Bruce fear for his current advantage.

"And Bruce?" She added, a smirk now full on her face.

"Uh-"

"You just won." She told him, enjoying how his confused and even a bit weary face turned into one of disbelief and amazement.

He turned to the screen to verify her statement, and true to her word, his avatar had won the race. The unbeatable Natasha Romanoff had been squished by the badly coordinated, Dr. Banner.

"Guess my debt is paid, huh?" Natasha teased, leaving her control on the floor, relaxing into the seat, enjoying the way Bruce sat on the edge to give her more space.

"Up to a point, yes."

"So," she began, the tone in her voice mischievous and innocent like at the same time. "You wouldn't mind another race, would you?" She asked as she had already pressed the starting button. She made Bruce curse and fumble in order to secure his control.

"So long as you remember your other end of the -" Bruce started but was interrupted.

Natasha was quick to pause the game.

"I thought you said he was out." She commented, a raised eyebrow directed at Bruce.

The doctor gulped as the teenager kept on rambling about New York and the ridiculous amount of time it took to find a decent pizza place.

"Is that how you greet your friendly neighbor?" Peter joked, slumping down on the couch with a huff and the smirk which amused Bruce and annoyed Natasha.

"No, it's how I greet annoying pupils." She retorted back, glaring at the teen. But it wasn't a death glare, it was softer than that.

"Sure," he commented as he squinted at the TV. "Banner, did you call for an emergency tourney?" He accused.

Bruce chuckled and readjusted his glasses as he leaned back in the chair, squishing comfortably next to Natasha.

"Nope, this is just good ol' revenge here."

Natasha glared playfully at Bruce now, nudging him with her elbow as she restarted the game, choosing to ignore the teen currently spread across the couch.

"That's still debatable." She threw at him, enjoying how Bruce laughed and followed her in ignoring Peter Parker.

"Well, when you love birds are done. I just wanted to show _this_ to someone!" He jumped off the couch and stood in front of the couple, blocking their view of the TV. A crash was heard and Bruce's avatar's cry followed.

"Oh, you really shouldn't have done that." Bruce commented as he took notice of Natasha's destroyed vehicle.

Her face was blank, her eyes fixed on Parker.

"Uh..."

Bruce lightly chuckled as he stood from his chair, taking the paper the young man had dangled in front of them. Curious as to what had been of such importance he had come back to the facility before sunset.

"You just made me lose a game, Parker." She began her threat, her voice filled with that good hearted annoyance it usually carried whenever she referred to the teen.

"Uh, Nat?"

"Give me a second Bruce, I'm trying to teach a spider a lesson on -"

"Thor's back."

His voice, quick and filled with no nonsense was what drove Natasha’s concentration from the teen back to Bruce. Just as he could read her, she could read him and his tone as he had uttered the words told Natasha of the importance of the Norse god's return.

"Parker?" She questioned her trainee, her look now absent of any tease or joke. Her stare made Peter gulp and stand a little straighter as he gave her the answer she wanted.

Bruce moved to sit closer to her, his left hand gently caressing her back, out of Peter's already curious gaze.

"Thanks kid. Go, and we pretend the losing thing never happened."

The younger man nodded, looking to Bruce for help, obviously taken aback by the former spy's sudden change in demeanor and attitude.

Bruce simply nodded, without a firm or clear expression on his face.

He liked Parker enough, he enjoyed watching him work alongside Natasha, but he was still a kid. And there were things Bruce was not entirely comfortable sharing with him.

"Things are gonna start stirring up around here." She broke the silence, her face and eyes set on the TV, on the losing characters' animated tears.

"Yeah, they are."

"Things are gonna change, again." She added. It wasn't fear or doubt which laced her voice, but exhaustion, the same one Bruce had wanted to make her forget about that morning.

"Yes. Everything's gonna shift and move and break and remake itself."

He started, his eyes focused on the same spot on the TV. He suddenly changed his gaze, his eyes landing on her, soft and loving and everything Natasha had learned to look and expect in them. "My offer still stands. I still believe in what I told you."

He paused, waiting for her to lock eyes with him. "Our fight is over."

Natasha could not help the quick and soft quirk of her lips as he uttered the words, his comment soft and honest. She reached or his cheek with a hand, softly caressing him.

"Job's not finished, not for me; and I know, not for you." Her voice was tired, yes, but it also carried a leadership quality in it Bruce found himself admiring. Maybe it hadn't been the silly and lazy day he had wanted, but the few minutes in which he had managed to make her forget, had seemed to help bring Natasha back.

"We started this. We need to finish it." She finished, her voice as sure as ever, even her breathing becoming steadier and less vibrating.

"We did, we do."

She stopped whatever it was he was thinking of saying next with a quick kiss to his lips.

When she parted she remained close, her lips ghosting over his ear as she whispered to him, "Thank you for the race, doc. Sad we didn't get to finish, huh?"

Bruce chuckled and leaned in to steal a quick kiss. "We'll finish when all of this is over." He then stopped and really looked into her eyes, trying to convey the hundreds of thoughts and emotions suddenly running through him. "When the job's finished."

"When the job's finished." She mimicked before diving in and kissing him again, this time, taking her time, making sure to imprint the memory to her mind.

And it was as they were walking out of the room, both now with their minds set on being ready for whatever news their old friend brought, when her voice startled him out of focus.

"And if that little weasel of a man thinks he can get away from my wrath for making lose in a video game because the world will be in danger, he's more than wrong."

Bruce then laughed, pressing his glasses further up the rim of his nose. "Of course he is. The competitive queen of Mario Kart."

She threw a glare at him but smiled slyly as he returned it.

"You still owe me a game."

"You still owe me a date."

Her eyebrows shot up at such a straightforward comment coming from Bruce. But as she saw his tense, worried, but adoring filled eyes -she understood.

"I adore you."

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, even I don't know where this came from, or why it ended up the way it did. I just wanted to write Natasha playing video games and I ended up writing -this, whatever this is. But I figured if I already had written it, might as well post it. No harm done to anyone. :) 
> 
> x  
> feriferfer


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